The present invention relates to a technique for use in the manufacture of a semiconductor device, and, more particularly, to a technique which is effective when applied to steps in which a semiconductor wafer adhered to an adhesive tape is divided into a plurality of semiconductor chips by dicing, and, thereafter, the respective semiconductor chips are peeled off from the adhesive tape.
Recently, with a view toward enhancement of high-density packaging of a semiconductor device, a stacked package which three-dimensionally mounts plural sheets of semiconductor chips on a printed circuit wiring board has been put into practice. However, in assembling such a stacked package, semiconductor chips (hereinafter, simply referred to as “chips”), which are processed such that the thickness of the semiconductor chip is reduced to approximately several tens of μm, are used.
In mounting such thin chips on a printed circuit wiring board, first of all, on a main surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”) which forms a desired integrated circuit, a tape which protects the integrated circuit is laminated. In such a state, by polishing or etching a rear surface of the wafer, the thickness of the wafer is decreased to approximately several tens of μm. Then, dicing is performed, while the adhesive tape remains laminated to the rear surface of the thin wafer, so as to divide the wafer into a plurality of chips. Thereafter, the rear surface of the adhesive tape is pushed up by the pusher pins or the like to peel off the chips one after another from the adhesive tape. The peeled chips are picked up by a collet and are transported to the printed circuit wiring board, where pellet bonding is performed.
Here, in the above-mentioned package assembling steps, which involve the use of extremely thin chips, when the chips which are divided by dicing are peeled or are picked up from the adhesive tape, cracks or chippings are liable to easily occur on the chips, and, hence, it is necessary to provide measures to prevent the occurrence of these cracks or chippings.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2000-353710 (patent literature 1) discloses a technique to peel off extremely thin chips (pellets), which cannot be picked up by a push-up operation using a pusher pin, from a dicing tape. The pellet pickup device which is disclosed in this patent literature 1 has a profile of a size larger than the chip which becomes an object to be picked up at the center of an upper portion of a backup holder, and a groove portion on which the outer peripheral end of the chip is arranged when the chip is mounted on the backup holder is formed along the outer periphery of the chip, wherein by evacuating air inside the groove portion, it is possible to peel off the chip from the peripheral end portion thereof.
Patent Literature 1
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2000-353710